Turning the pain of grief into a passion for honour
● “The pain never goes away, but honouring the person you’ve lost helps with the healing,” says Denise Goldin, mother of slain actor Brett Goldin.
Her passion for honouring her son found expression in various forms, including the Brett Goldin Award, given annually at the Naledi awards for performing arts, and the Brett Goldin Bursary Fund at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town, which ran for 10 years.
Her own Goldin Hand Project, a philanthropic entity to spread positive actions instead of hate and hurt, was born out of her grief. “When your child’s name is associated with something positive, it helps a little each time,” she said.
Less than a year after the rape and murder of Stellenbosch University student Hannah Cornelius, a foundation was created in her name by her mother, Anna, before her own death last week.
It will launch several initiatives, including a court-preparedness programme which will allow children who are due to testify in court to watch a mock trial run by a retired judge.
This week, Anna was supposed to meet the Department of Social Development to discuss plans for the foundation’s work in the Cape Town communities of Ocean View and Masiphumelele, near the Cornelius family home in Scarborough.
The government opened a community development centre in Bredasdorp to honour slain teenager Anene Booysen. It is used by the community for training workshops and meetings.
“Corlia [Olivier, Anene’s mother] was grateful that her child’s name would never fade, that her death was not in vain,” said Nombasa Mhlati-Musewe of the Cape Agulhas municipality, which manages the centre.